Humanist and nonhumanist aspects of technologies as problem solving physical instruments

Sadjad Soltanzadeh

pp. 139-156

in: Elizabeth Buchanan, Mariarosaria Taddeo (eds), Information societies, ethical enquiries, Philosophy & Technology 28 (1), 2015.

Abstract

A form of metaphysical humanism in the field of philosophy of technology can be defined as the claim that besides technologies' physical aspects, purely human attributes are sufficient to conceptualize technologies. Metaphysical nonhumanism, on the other hand, would be the claim that the meanings of the operative words in any acceptable conception of technologies refer to the states of affairs or events which are in a way or another shaped by technologies. In this paper, I focus on the conception of technologies as problem-solving physical instruments in order to study the debate between the humanist and the nonhumanist ways of understanding technologies. I argue that this conception commits us to a hybrid understanding of technologies, one which is partly humanist and partly nonhumanist.